Clovers, Green Beer, and DUI’s

As we all know, March can be a very exciting time in Arizona.  We have Waste Management, Spring Training, March Madness, and St. Patrick’s Day. And guess what this weekend is…. It’s time to bust out that green and get your beer on!

Before we get into the fun festivities of it all, I want to ask a question. Do you know why St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated? If you do, indulge me, if you don’t, here’s a crash course for you. St. Patrick was an actual person, and obviously he was a Saint – in case you missed that. He was actually a pretty high up their Saint known as a Patron Saint and he was Ireland bound.  When he was alive, he did some pretty cool things, but one of the most important was that he was a huge factor in bringing Christianity to Ireland.

Patron Saint Patrick died on March 17^th forever years ago. Hence, why March 17^th is the designated St. Patrick’s Day – I mean he did deserve to have a holiday, after all.

So, where did the green shamrock come from? It was actually used by St. Patrick, due to its three leaves, to represent the Holy Trinity (three).  Pretty cool. So, the next time you think it’s a clover (four leaves) you can pull this little fact from your memory and be the smartest cookie in the room.

For a long time, in history, eating and drinking had a lot of restrictions. But on St. Patrick’s Day all restrictions were lifted in order to have a good time.  This tradition carried on and as we came into a more modern day the tradition was improved on.  This is why it is considered the biggest drinking day in the calendar year (thanks Ireland!).

Talking about drinking, our little history has come to an end and now we get to talk about the fun stuff, with a bit of important adult things sprinkled in. Green beer, good friends, and partying all night long, wahoo! It’s SO much fun to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. In fact, it is so much fun that those who aren’t even Irish have now taken on the holiday – because, who would want to miss out, right?

And it’s not really just the one day. No, this holiday is a whole weekend affair! And if it’s during the week, even better. That means we get the weekend before AND the weekend after, sweet. That means more beer, more fun…. but also, more chances of getting a DUI.  Wah, wah.

I know, it always gets in the way, right? But, rightfully so.  The last thing we need is a bunch of green wearing, drunk people driving down the road with blurry goggles over their eyes. That just takes all of the fun out of this epic holiday.

Did you know that during St. Patrick’s day weekend, there are typically 200-300 arrests in Arizona alone.  Of these arrests, about 33% typically have a blood alcohol content above .15%, which is considered an extreme DUI in Arizona.  Yikes, that scary.  Arizona is a zero-tolerance state, but if you want to get technical a .08% blood alcohol level is considered driving under the influence.  If you are at a .15% you are officially on the line of that extreme DUI. And when you get to .20%, oh man, don’t go there please. That is a SUPER extreme DUI and at that point you are pretty much done for.

Let’s have a good time people! You can have a good time and not get arrested, people do it every day. Don’t binge drink, that’s horrible for you, and we will get into that next week.  Make sure you are aware of your surroundings.  There are zones around the valley that are considered “party zones”.  I think we all know these zones – Old Town Scottsdale, Mill Ave in Tempe, Westgate in Peoria, Desert Ridge Marketplace, and many more.

Do your research on these places. And better yet, just don’t drive. This holiday comes once a year, go ahead and splurge. Get that Rideshare, Lyft, and Uber.  It will make life a lot easier and then you can drink all you want, have all the fun in the world, and enjoy your time with your friends. It’s really a no brainer.  To sweeten the deal for you, use our Lyft code – NODUI10 or NODUI – your welcome.

Let’s just make a pact, right now, all together.  Sure, I won’t have the slightest idea if you are really going to make this pact or not.  But for your own good, and for my own conscious, I am going to assume that you did.  Let’s beat that statistic of 200-300 DUI arrests that darken Arizona’s streets every year.  Let’s make that number as low as possible.  I would like to even see no DUI’s, how awesome would that be?!

Let’s be responsible. Let’s be adults. We can do this! Say it with me, “we can be responsible!”.

Everyone wants to have a good time, even those who don’t drink.  Don’t ruin their time by getting behind that wheel and causing some unfortunate events.  We don’t want to see you on the 11 o’clock news being pushed into an ambulance and your car mangled on the side of the road.  We want you here to celebrate next year.

Let’s say you do get a DUI (knock on wood), or you know someone who does/has, then give us a call.  We know DUI’s and we know how to help you.  We will talk to you, we will help you, and we will guide you through the mess of stuff that you will have to go through in order to regain your license, and your life – 602-441-9444. And guess what, it’s free!

Remember, as you are having that good time, before you get into that car, there are some severe consequences when you get a DUI.  You will have at least a $10,000 pile up of fees from court dates, lawyer fees, jail time, and all the classes you will have to take. You will need to take an alcohol screening and counseling classes, traffic survival school, having an interlock put into your car, and an SR-22 on your insurance before you can even begin to get your license back.

So, think twice before you place yourself in that situation.  Don’t drink and drive. Have a good time. Be safe, be responsible.